Today, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its first major COVID-19 response bill. “There are a lot of people and small businesses hurting right now,” said Rep. Garrison. “I am proud to support a relief package that will help.”

House Bill 1043 passed the NC House today. It now goes to the NC Senate for its consideration. The NC Senate yesterday passed a bill with much lower levels of support for public schools, public health, and assistance to local areas.

There are a lot of good parts to our relief package, but here are a few highlights:

$75 million in small business assistance loans through Golden LEAF

$50 million for Private Protective Equipment (PPE) and other COVID-19 supplies

$25 million for expanded testing and tracing needed to get NC back to work

“I am glad to work across party lines to support this bill,” said Rep. Garrison. “It is not perfect, but will do a lot of good. I will keep working on needed long-term fixes that we did not address today like Medicaid Expansion, strengthening the unemployment system for laid-off workers, and improved family leave.”